The cold winds
tore through her soft, golden hair as she drifted beneath the night sky;
gliding elegantly, like a bird, while she admired the billions of stars on the
dark purple canvas. Hundreds of feet below, the brilliance of space was reflected
in the ocean. Another dark mass equal in mystery and wonder, she thought. The
power was exhilarating, coursing through her veins like electricity. She had
never felt so alive before, yet the countdown that was her heartbeat had
already ended.
The smell of
salt filled her nostrils and the mighty sound of the ocean undulating merged
with the frustrated whistle of wind in her ears, while the frost from being so
high scraped her skin violently like fine, razor-sharp fangs. She realised,
though, that her senses were no more amplified than they had been during her
former life; she was just more in touch with them, more appreciative. The
flying part on the other hand was, of course, all very new.
As she broke
through a cluster of thick grey clouds, she saw the ocean’s end: the white
fringe of the waves brushing a rocky coastline as if she was being welcomed to
land. There were more lights up ahead, too, but these lights were no mystery to
her like the ones above. Tall structures of different shapes and sizes, each
dotted with lights, came into view. Suddenly, as she was above land, she
descended quickly, like a bird that had spotted a fish in the water. This was
her first time, and while she was able to fly and do a number of other things she
had never been able to do before, she realised that her true power was the
absence of fear. Fear was the one thing that had always held her back. Now, she
was fear.
Somehow, though,
she didn’t feel quite in control: it was all automatic, reactive. This, she realised,
was instinct. And having no more moral consciousness or the weight of such
pointless thoughts meant absolute freedom. Who
knew animals have been superior to humans all this time? she thought, as
she realised that intelligence and emotion were the most limiting qualities a
creature could possess.
Suddenly, she
woke with a jolt, as if she were about to fall. It was a dream, she thought, but one that was both incredibly lucid
and intense. But her skin was still as cold as death, and the sweet blood that
ran from her blue lips and up her moon-white face was warm, as it dripped into
the crimson-red pool below, above which she hung by her feet. She turned her
head around and saw her new brothers and sisters hanging with her in the
darkness, and from their blood-stained faces, it was clear they’d been dreaming
too.
No comments:
Post a Comment